5050
by I Sea Wy
Summary: Who was he? A monster, that's all he knew. He couldn't remember anything else, his parents, his childhood. He had no idea who the man with the blank eyes and gun was or what the two-sided cave meant, but he was in for a surprise. Told from Millard's pov. MillardxEnoch, starring Enorace as the NOTP.
1. Chapter 1

I had no idea where I was, who I was, when it was. All I could think of was warmth. I wanted to be warm, sat next to a burning furnace in a warm blanket, sipping a cup of hot chocolate. That was what I wanted most as I trudged through the snow. People all around me were bustling around in coats and woollen sweaters. I so badly wanted them. But if I wore them right now, people would freak out and run away, because I was a freak. I knew I wasn't human. That was all I knew about myself. I was a freak. I have never talked to anyone without them getting frightened.

And I was sick. Very sick.

I wandered away from civilisation and up a rocky slope. I rubbed my hands and cupped them over my mouth, breathing heavily. My head was pounding and my body was shaking. I was surprised that I managed to get through the crowd sneezing and coughing, my tracks laid in the snow.

Soon after I left the town, though it felt like a million years, I was greeted by what seemed to be a tomb. I froze, not due to the weather, but because I had somehow brought myself to a tomb. I went over to get a closer look, and I was overjoyed to find an entry into it. I ran, at least, with as much energy as I had left, through the doorless doorway and down some stone steps into a dark room underground. It was terrifyingly black, I couldn't see a thing. But it was warm, and I felt like staying there forever. It was the perfect place, nobody to hide from. I was free in this small, dark area.

"Goodbye, world!" I laughed and shouted at the entrance. Then I heard something I didn't expect. Playful giggling and laughing. Was someone up there? I couldn't help my curiosity and took a step up. Then another step. I made my way back to the snowy outdoors and stopped. It was definitely the same place, but there was no snow to be seen. I was still shivering, due to my sickness. I haven't seen a doctor (of course not) and I haven't gotten any medications for it. But the fresh air entering my lungs made me feel much better. Still sickly, but much better.

I wandered away in hopes of finding a clinic or, even better, a hospital. I went through the forest which was previously coated in snow. What was going on? Why did winter suddenly end? I asked myself these questions as I stumbled upon a large building. It was very bright and welcoming, unlike the snowy town which I had walked through previously. There was a garden with beautiful topiaries in the shapes of animals and mythical creatures. Probably a children's home, I wondered to myself. If it was a home, there would definitely be food and water. And that was all my body craved for at the moment. I dashed toward the building as quickly as I could, not letting my body wait any longer.

The interior looked like an average home. Pictures of children hung on walls and sat on shelves. There was one picture which really caught my eye. A young, pudgy-faced boy with dark circles under his eyes, no older than thirteen, sitting down with some dolls in his lap. I had no idea why it stood out so much. He had a dull expression as if he didn't want the picture to be taken. I shrugged at the strangeness of it and continued exploring the house.

"...which is why we should never talk about this to normals." I heard the voice from a room with large oak doors which I was approaching. It sounded like a lady giving her naughty children a lecture. Despite how much I craved for food and medication, I simply couldn't leave this alone. I loved lectures. I knew a lot of things, but I had no idea where they came from. And I was always looking forward to an education. The oak doors were already wide open when I stepped in, and I gaped at the room which I had just entered. There were towering shelves full of books everywhere. I felt like I was in heaven as I wandered around, my mouth hanging as I stared at the many books that they had. I had no idea what they were about, or why they all had the word "peculiar" in their titles. That was when I reached the end of the library, where a few tables were laid. A middle-aged lady was there, walking and talking about something. There were also children of varying ages sitting at the tables, from a little girl no older than five to a boy barely older than me. I remembered a few of them from the pictures that I saw when I entered, including the pudgy-faced boy, who wasn't even paying attention to the lesson. Instead, he was playing with a small clay doll, moving it around so well that it seemed to have a mind of its own.

I quietly walked to the other side behind them, my back against the bookshelf behind them. That was when I heard a loud crash beside me. Everyone looked in my direction, and I looked down at a book that I had just knocked over. "I'll handle that later," said the lady before she continued with the lesson. Everyone's attention went back to her, except one boy who was dressed strangely, in a top hat and monocle, a cane rested against his table. He looked at me suspiciously, not the book, but me. After a few seconds, he slowly turned his head around. I sighed as quietly as I could and picked the book up. The title of it was "Tales of the Peculiar". The book had a leather cover of green and gold, with an elaborate design of vines and branches and animals on it. "Miss Peregrine!" The voice nearly made me jump and drop the book, but when it was still in my hands, I sighed and looked for its place on the bookshelf. I found an empty space and attempted to wedge it in, but before I could I felt a hand on mine. "I appreciate the offer, but I can handle this myself," the woman said, looking straight into my eyes. She pushed the book into the shelf before turning around. "Mister Somnusson, would you please tell me about this young man?"

"Millard Nullings, born 1924 in Birmingham." The boy in the top hat said, "After his parents moved to the Netherlands, he went there in search of them. When winter began, he suffered amnesia and pneumonia before taking a ship to Wales and then to Cairnholm." I was astounded. I had no idea about who I was and this stranger just spat it out like it was nothing. "Oh dear, pneumonia?" the lady seemed shocked, "Mister O'Connor, bring him to your room. Miss Bloom, Mister Apiston and Miss Frauenfeld, prepare some tea for him. Mister Somnusson, prepare some clothes for him. Miss Bruntley, prepare some medications for him." The children who were assigned tasks nodded and got up. The pudgy-faced boy approached me, blushing as he tried to find my hand. I smiled and grabbed his hand. "Follow me." He said, leading me out of the room.

 **A/N: why hello there it is i the fabulous author and i am here to inform you that i will try and post a new chapter at least once a week, so expect the next chapter really soon. Have fun while waiting for the next chapter**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: hey guys im here just saying that i missed out a few canon stuff while writing this fic but idk how to change it to make it align with the canon things so just imagine canon things dont extst**

"So you're invisible, yeah?" he asked me as he led me to his room, "And you forgot who you are?" I nodded before realizing that he couldn't see me. "Yes," I said in response. The boy spoke with a strong cockney accent, which I paid quite a bit of attention to. "I'm Enoch." He introduced, "You're pretty young for a peculiar kid. Just 16? I just turned 48 last month." I was shocked. How could he be 48? He still seemed quite young. "D'you know anything about peculiardom?" he asked. So were the peculiars mentioned in the books actually a species? "N-not that I know of," I replied, "I mean, that boy said that I'm suffering from amnesia, I might have known, but I don't remember." Enoch tutted. "If that's the case we've got to explain later," he sighed, "for now you've gotta rest. Miss P's gonna be mad if she finds out you're not all rested amd comfy."

He led me down a corridor and down the staircase that I previously went up, and into a room right next to the stairs. His bedroom was quite dark, the curtains drawn and the lights off. When I took a closer look, the lights were actually broken, the glass of the bulb smashed to bits. A wooden table sat next to a messy bed. A pile of clothes were dumped at one corner, next to a worn-down wardrobe. "It isn't exactly perfect," he said, shutting the door behind us, "sorry 'bout that. By the way, if you're invisible and I can't see you at all, does that mean…"

"I'm not wearing anything." I replied truthfully. Enoch pulled a slightly disgusted expression as he nodded slowly. "I used my clothes to sneak onto the cruise to Wales," I said, "got lost in the ocean." He nodded and held out a hand. I stared for a few seconds before I realized that he wanted my hand. I held it and he pulled me to the bed. "Now you've gotta sleep, or at least pretend to," he said, "or Miss P's gonna get me." I got in the bed, surprised at how soft it was despite the unwelcoming appearance. I pulled the covers over me and immediately went to sleep.

I had a dream. I was in a cave. There was a lake of black, murky water in front of me. I had no idea why, but I wanted to dive into it. It looked terrible and disgusting and all I wanted to do was walk away, but something inside me was pulling me closer and closer to the lake. Stuck between to choices, I stood frozen on my two feet in the middle of the lake and the entrance of the cave. I stared at the lake, letting myself be pulled towards it. Then I shook my head and turned around to face the entrance. How I longed to get out of this terrifying place. I took a few steps out of the cave then felt a pounding ache in my chest. I cringed and swiveled around, diving into the muddy waters. But instead of being met with the same dark water that I dived into, the water that I saw when I bobbed out of it was crystal clear. There were bright blue flowers all around, as well as diamond blue stalactites hanging from the top. It was beautiful and bright, unlike the world where I came from. As I reached out for one of the flowers floating next to me, I saw something that I had not seen in such a long time. It was my hand. I could see my hand. I gasped and cleared away some flowers, staring at my reflection in the water. I could see all of it, my dark brown hair covering my entire forehead, my green eyes staring back at me, and the freckles that dotted my cheeks. "Millard!" I heard someone shout. I knew that name. That was my name. I looked up to the cave entrance. There, Enoch was standing, calling my name. "Millard, get up!" He shouted, "Millard! Millard, wake up!"

"Millard!" I jolted out of the bed. "Millard, thank bird you're awake!" Enoch sighed next to me. I held my hands out in front of me. I couldn't see them and frowned. I wanted to stay in that dream, in a beautiful heaven. "Mister Nullings," I looked up to see the lady—Miss Peregrine—looking at me. At least attempting to look at me. She was actually looking a bit too high. "Lower, Miss Peregrine." I said. She chuckled as she correctly looked at me. "I'm terribly sorry, Mister Nullings," she said, "now, I believe we haven't had a proper introduction yet. As you already know, I am Alma LeFay Peregrine, the headmistress of this home. This young boy is Enoch O'Connor, as you might already have known. This other young boy—" she pointed to the top hat boy who was next to her, "—is Horace Somnusson. He has prepared some clothes for you, so after you have changed, please follow him down to the dining room."

"Yes, Miss Peregrine," I said before she and Enoch walked away. "Ugh, I keep on telling him to clean this place up," Horace groaned as he passed me a set of clothes, "and you can change right here. I won't be able to see you anyways." I thanked him as I pulled on the clothes that he gave me. It has been a few days since I could get some clothing on me. It felt great not to be dressed in rags, or nothing, in fact. I was given a button-up shirt and brown trousers, as well as a red tie and brown jacket. I also had a pair of reddish-brown socks with black leather shoes. I felt like a gentleman, but Horace definitely acted much more like a gentleman than I did. "Perfect!" He grinned, "Now off to the dining room! Everyone's going to be really excited to have you here. Well, everyone except Enoch. He's the really weird one who doesn't talk to anyone." I was surprised by how Horace described him. "Is that so?" I asked, "He seemed quite worried about me when I talked to him just now."

Horace looked straight at me and blinked in confusion. "Huh," he commented, "must think pretty highly of you then. The only other person he acts like that around is Victor. Anyways, everybody's waiting right now." I nodded. "Let's go," I said, following him downstairs and through a corridor to a room where everyone was sat, chatting animatedly with each other. "Ah, you're here," Miss Peregrine's eyes lit up at the sight of me and Horace, "everyone, please introduce yourselves to Millard Nullings." Horace took a seat next to Enoch, and I took the seat on the other side of Enoch where there was a cup of tea waiting to get drunk. "Good day, Millard," greeted a boy with sleek, black hair and black goggles, "I'm Hugh Apiston." I noticed that everytime he spoke, a couple of bees swarmed in and out of his mouth. It was a good thing he couldn't see the fear on my face. "This is Fiona, she doesn't talk much," Hugh wrapped his arm around a frizzy-haired girl next to her. She smiled and leaned against Hugh.

"I'm Victor Bruntley," said a tall boy, slightly older than Hugh. "Nice to meet you!" Said a young girl no older than six, "I'm Olive Abroholos Elepha—" I gaped as she began to float towards the ceiling. Luckily, an older girl next to her caught her by the leg before she strayed too far off. "I'm Bronwyn, Victor's sister," the girl introduced as she pulled Olive back to the ground, "Now where are your shoes?" Olive pouted at Bronwyn. "Claire took them!" She pointed across the table to an even younger girl, possibly five years old. "Claire, give Olive her shoes back, please," said another girl next to her. Claire frowned and turned around, facing away from her. The girl winced in pain and lifted her arm to reveal some fresh bite marks on it. "Miss Densmore, please!" Miss Peregrine scolded, "Miss Bloom, are you alright?" The girl nodded as she got up and left. "Emma, d'you need help with handling that?" Bronwyn stood up. "No, Wyn, I'm fine," Emma grinned before leaving the room.

"I doubt she's gonna get any water on that wound," Enoch commented, "she's just gonna fill the bathroom with smoke." Miss Peregrine sighed in disappointment. "I am terribly sorry about that," she apologized, "now while you have your tea, let me explain to you where you are, what you are and when you are." I didn't exactly understand but I nodded anyways. "Do you understand?" She asked after a few seconds, when I realized that she couldn't see me. I had to get the hang of this. "Y-yes," I stuttered, beginning to sip the cup of tea. Miss Peregrine smiled and began her explanation.

"You might not know this, but there are certain people with peculiar powers, or peculiarities. We call these people "Peculiars". And this does not only apply to humans. Animals can also be peculiar. All of us here are peculiar, myself included. Now, back in the day, normals had believed peculiars to be witches—" Fiona hugged Hugh tightly at this point "—and they chased peculiars out of their homes. This is why a certain type of peculiar, an ymbryne, takes care of places called loops, which is an area where a day is repeated endlessly thanks to the ymbryne maintaining it. Normals cannot enter loops, so here we are safe from those who threaten us. Take this loop that we are currently in for example. September 3rd 1940. It should be the January of 1941 by now if I am not mistaken. But here, the day September 3rd 1940 shall repeat forever, as long as I, as the ymbryne of this loop, takes care of it. Now, let's say you stay here until 50 years in the future. Once you leave the loop, and if you stay out for long enough, you will age rapidly in just a few days. Enoch here used to live in another loop, but it got destroyed and he managed flee here quickly enough to maintain his young form." I remembered when Enoch told me that he was 48. Now it made more sense.

"Now, an experiment in 1908 was conducted, and in the experiment, a large number of peculiars got turned into these creatures called Hollowgast. And if a hollowgast eats enough peculiar souls, they will evolve into their previous peculiar form, but they are no longer peculiars. They are wights, and they are terrible, terrible creatures. Hollowgast are unable to enter loops, but wights are able to, and you can differentiate them and peculiars by their eyes. Wights have blank, white eyes with no pupils. And what exactly is terrible about wights is that they want to rule peculiardom, but they try to kill every single one of us, by consuming us. They especially love peculiar children. That is why I created this loop to protect all of you from danger." I thought about that for a while. Blank, white eyes. I could picture it very clearly in my mind, an entire scenario, even. A man staring at me with blank eyes, holding up a gun and aiming it at my face. I felt like I was time travelling to the past when I thought of this. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, a cold winter's breeze blowing my hair out of my eyes. I wanted to run, to flee. I wanted to hide from the eyes of this man, if he could even see me without his pupils.

I felt a pounding in my head as the cup of tea nearly fell in my trembling hands. I placed the cup on the table and rubbed my head with my hands. "I…" I mumbled, "I remember…" Enoch placed his hands on mine. "Don't force yourself," he said. I was sweating, the heat in my forehead burning intensely. "A wight…" I managed to whisper, "nearly… killed…"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: IF I GET ANYTHING WRONG ACCORDING TO THE BOOKS please don't complain and be too triggered by it I just read MPHFPC so much when I first read it I would read until I accidentally fall asleep so if I missed anything I was probably too tired OKAY BACK TO FANFICTION**

I had that dream again. It was exactly the same as last time, I was struggling to keep myself from diving into the lake. I jumped in and entered a world of beauty, a world that I wanted to live in forever. I stared into my reflection in the clear water. It was a world where I wasn't an outsider. A world where I felt normal. I looked up at the glimmering stalactites above me, small droplets of water dripping onto the flowers that surrounded me. And the more I stared, the closer they got, and the faster they grew. Then I realized that they weren't growing at all. They were falling. Like hail, the stalactites dropped and came to attack me. I bent over and held my arms over my body as a shield. I could hear them raining down onto the lake, and my heart was beating fast, almost fast enough for me to have a heart attack. But I had a different attack. A sharp pain in my back. The stalactite got me, I thought. But then I looked up and turned around. I wasn't in the lake anymore. It was a cold winter's day, and a man with blank eyes was holding a gun and aiming it at me, a car driving away behind him. A car with my parents inside.

"Gah!" I screamed as I sat up in bed, perspirig madly. "Millard!" I looked up to see Emma, Hugh and Fiona dashing over to me. "Are you alright?" Hugh asked worriedly, his bees flying around his head, "Oh, what the bloody hell am I thinking, of course you're not! We've just made another cup of tea, please wait here until we get Miss P over." Emma passed me a cup of honeyed tea and I thanked her before taking a sip of it. I couldn't express my relief of waking up from that terrible nightmare. I was beginning to remember more about my past, how I looked like, how my parents looked like. But who exactly was that wight who was aiming at me? Did he manage to shoot me or did I escape? There was still plenty of my past hidden from me, but if I stayed in the loop for long enough, I would almost definitely be able to remember. Either that or I would spend my life not knowing anything about my origins.

I heard a knock on the door. "Nullings?" Miss Peregrine entered the room, dressed in the same frilly black and white dress from dinner. I supposed that it was still the same day. "Yes, Miss Peregrine." I greeted. "Are you in a good shape to tell me about what you have remembered from your past?" She asked, "I do not wish for you to push yourself too far, especially considering that you are ill at the moment." I shook my head. "It's alright," I said. Miss Peregrine nodded and took a seat next to me. "So, what do you remember about the wights?" She asked. "Well," I began, "I remember a wight holding up a gun and aiming at me. It was probably when I was still visible, but it was quite cold and I could see my parents driving off in the distance, so it couldn't possibly be too long ago. The wight also looked frightened and scared of me, his hands trembling with the gun in it. He looked pretty young and had brown hair and was dressed in rags. That's all I remember."

"I see," Miss Peregrine bit her lip, "and you do not remember where exactly it took place?" I took a moment to think. "No, I don't," I replied. "Well, if that is the case, thank you very much for this information." she said, "Now, this is your bedroom. It is right next to Enoch's bedroom, which I am quite sure you know how to get to. You shall stay here until you recover, and afterwards you may choose whether to leave or stay. I am not forcing you to make a decision. With that said, have a pleasant evening, Mister Nullings." I watched as she shut the door behind her. I took another sip of the tea and stared out of the window behind my bed. It was dark and rainy, not the best night. I thought about the loop. If this day repeated forever, would the others never be able to experience a dry night? They would never be able to experience growing up, starting a family, living independently. They would be kids forever, and the moment they step out of this place, they would shrivel up and die. The thought terrified me, and I didn't want to skip my entire adulthood. But I was tempted by the thought of living forever. If I never step out of this place, I would be able to live forever and ever as a teenager, without a care in the world. I could examine everything that happens in the loop. The thought excited me.

I heard the door creak open ever so slightly. "Psst…Millard!" Enoch hissed from the doorway. He looked back at the corridor. "Take this," he said, handing me something black and gray, in the shape of a misshapen face. I walked over and took it. I gasped softly when I realized that I was holding a gas mask. "Follow me," he said, "and be quiet." I smirked. "I'm an expert at sneaking out," I whispered. Enoch grinned and I stepped out of my room, closing the door quietly and following him down the stairs. At the main entrance, Enoch hid behind a bookshelf. "Ready to make a dash for it?" He hissed, pointing to the lawn. I had no idea why he wanted me to follow him to the garden, especially since I was sick. "Sure," I responded anyways. Enoch pulled on his gas mask and I followed suit. He peeked out to see if Miss Peregrine was around. She seemed to have just left the building, so Enoch and I quickly ran out the door and hid behind a topiary in the shape of Adam from Michelangelo's fresco in the Sistine Chapel. Then I noticed loud fireworks in the distance, their firy explosions accompanied by ear-blasting bangs. Then I realized they weren't fireworks. They were bombs.

"Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run run run," Enoch sang, "Bang, bang, bang goes the farmer's gun," I noticed that the lyrics were timed perfectly to the bombs' rhythms, "He'll get by without his rabbit pie, so," I noticed a bomb, like a shooting star, heading towards Adam's finger, "Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run run run!" Just when the bomb touched the bush, I crouched and hid under my arms. This was it. This was the end. Then I felt Enoch's hand rubbing my shoulder, and I saw him pointing up at the sky. The rain wasn't falling, but being lifted up into the sky. The bombs were being pulled back to the heavens, and the night sky became a clear, sunny afternoon one, then a bright, morning sky and then back to a night sky. I was shocked beyond words. "Was that Miss Peregrine…" I mumbled. "Resetting the loop. Yes," Enoch replied. I gasped. It was a sight to behold. I looked at Enoch, whose smile lit his face up even in the darkness of the night. His face was probably too bright, since I could see Miss Peregrine walking over suspiciously. Enoch gasped and took my mask and clothes. "You get back to your room," he said, "I'll take your clothes there later." I didn't bother to reply because Miss Peregrine was already quite close. After stripping me of my clothing, Enoch shoved them in the bush and I escaped to my bedroom as quietly as I could.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: just a tiny request to get at least one more fav/review/follow for this fic because my birthday is on saturday now on to the story**

I sat on my bed, awaiting Enoch's arrival. I thought back to what had just happened. A loop reset, to be done at the exact same time every single day. What a hard job Miss Peregrine had, having to make sure she does that at the correct time every day. A second late and we'd all be up on our feet and running away for safety. But it was definitely beautiful, a time lapse of the entire day, but backwards. It was even more mesmerizing than a time lapse of a day forwards. I would give up the clothes that I had just gotten to see that again. "Millard!" I saw Enoch at my door, holding my clothes in the door. "Thanks," I whispered as I grabbed the clothes out of his hands. "No problem," he grinned, blushing a little. I stared at Enoch for a few seconds, Enoch staring right through me, instead. His eyes met mine, and I felt like we were alone, back in the cave, but together. Floating together in the water, right next to each other. "Well," he said, "I'd better go now." I grinned, knowing he wouldn't see. "Of course. Bye then." I said, pulling my shirt over my hand and waving. "Bye," he waved back and dashed back to his room next door. I shut the door and pulled on my clothes.

I realized that whenever I saw Enoch, my heart began to ache just like how it did when I woke up from the nightmare, or when I remembered about the wight. It was shockingly painful, but unlike the other times, I was begging on my knees for more. I loved it. I was addicted to this pounding pain in my chest that happened whenever Enoch talked, whenever he smiled, whenever he blushed. I was practically clawing at the wall that separated us, screaming and pleading for more. Why did I love this so much? Why did I want Enoch so terribly? Why did I feel like I wanted to thank him?

I climbed back into my bed and pulled the covers over myself. I put a hand to my head, the heat of my forehead nearly burning my hand. I shut my eyes, which didn't really help since I could see through them. It was the same as seeing without them closed. I buried my head in my pillow and felt myself drifting off to sleep once again, hopefully until tomorrow this time.

That night I had a dream where I was noticeably younger. Probably just about six years old. I was walking somewhere, my parents holding my hands as we strolled through the city. I didn't question anyone, I simply skipped along with my parents by my side. After a while of touring the area, buying some things at the market, staring at toys in the display at toy shops, we reached home. It wasn't too great of a house, but not too shabby either. My parents let go of my hands and I jumped onto the couch, staring into the furnace. "Millard, don't forget your coat!" My mother's cheerful voice reminded me to take my coat off, which I gladly did as I skipped over and hung on the coat hanger. I didn't even notice I was wearing it until I was told to take it off. Must have been sometime in autumn or winter. I looked back at my parents who were sat in front of the burning furnace. They were doing something with their faces. But I was just a child: I didn't care. I jumped onto my father's lap and we all laughed and smiled. "I love you, Daddy and Mummy!" I laughed in my cheerful young voice before I looked up into my father's eyes. His blank, white eyes. My cheerful smile turned into a gaping mouth of horror as I jumped out of my father's lap.

"Millard!" I heard someone shout. I shot out of bed once again, drenched in sweat. "Millard, are you alright?" I looked up and saw Horace and Bronwyn by my side. "Y-Yes… just another bad dream," I sighed. Horace took a step forward. "Millard, are you alright with sharing it with me?" He asked, "You see, dreams are my peculiarity." I grinned and told him about my dream, how the weather was, what the town was like, and most importantly, that my parents' eyes were blank. When I told him that, Horace was dumbfounded. "Horace, are you alright?" Bronwyn asked. He nodded and walked away to the door. "Millard, if you have the same dream again, or if you see your parents as wights again, please tell me." He said. "But Horace!" I got out of bed, "Can you at least tell me what it meant?" Horace bit his lip, hesitating. He turned around and put his hand on Bronwyn's shoulder. "Wyn, would you mind?" He asked. Bronwyn nodded and left the room, and Horce approached me.

"So, considering that you're an amnesiac," he began, "and that you can barely remember your past, a dream that includes your family might be an indication of your past. That's a good thing, because it means that you're recovering. The bad news is that, since you said that your father had blank eyes…" I already knew what he was going to say. "Millard…" Horace muttered, "your father… there's a chance that he might be—"

"A wight." I finished, biting my lip. If my father was a wight, that would mean that I was at least partially a wight, too. It would mean that Miss Peregrine had welcomed inside her loop what she wanted to keep out of it. I could be a threat to all of these people who have treated me with hospitality and kindness. Enoch. The one who took me to see the loop reset, the beautiful time lapse of the day. The one who let me sleep in his room, his messy and unwelcoming room. The one who Horace said didn't care about anyone. The one whose every word made my heart skip a beat. How would he react if the one whom he was acting so kindly towards was actually a threat, with the potential to kill him?

"Hey, Millard," Horace said, "I know we haven't really been friends for long, in fact, we might just be considered acquaintances. But there's a possibility that this isn't true. You're sick, and this might just be a nightmare based off what happened yesterday, about the wight shooting you. Listen, there's that chance that your father isn't a wight. And even if he is a wight, I doubt Miss P's going to chase you out. And I trust that you're not going to be a threat. And don't worry too much about the others finding out. I'll keep it a secret. And perhaps I'll try and forget about it, if that's what you want. Now let's go. Breakfast is waiting."

I grinned at the little hope that I was clinging to that I was not the child of a wight. I wished so badly that I didn't have that dream. I didn't want it to be real. I thought that coming to this loop might be a good chance to make some friends, some people who wouldn't run away screaming when they meet me. If they end up chasing me out, how would I ever survive? All I wanted was for someone that I could trust, and here there were ten people who fit that perfectly. I didn't want to harm anyone. I never did. I just wanted someone who didn't think I would harm them.

I climbed down the stairs and strolled to the dining room, where everyone, with the exception of Enoch and Victor, were already sat. "Mill!" Hugh greeted and patted the seat next to him, "Come on, sit here with me!" His attitude and wide grin made me forget every thought that just went through my mind and I gladly took a seat. He was chomping down on a slice of toast which seemed to have honey spread on it. "So," he asked, "feeling better?" I nodded. "So much better than last night," I said sarcastically, "fantastic dreams, no headache at all." Hugh frowned. "You better get some rest, mate." He said.

"By the way," Hugh said, "you seen Enoch or Victor anywhere? They're usually the first ones at breakfast, stealing all the food for themselves. Fiona has to grow some fruits super quickly for the rest of us." He laughed and sighed. "I haven't seen them at all," I said, "when I left my room, Enoch's door was closed, so I thought he'd be in his room." Hugh shrugged. "Probably is," he said, "playing around with his dolls again I suppose."

Just when Hugh took another bite of his toast, I heard a loud crash from upstairs. It seemed that I wasn't the only one who heard it, as everyone else also looked up in suspicion. "What in the name of bird was that?" Olive hugged Bronwyn tightly. "Enoch? That you?" Emma called, getting up from her seat. "No need, Miss Bloom." Miss Peregrine stopped her and walked ahead. We all exchanged confused looks before Miss Peregrine returned with a worried expression on her face. "Everyone!" She called, "Search the island for Victor! I shall leave the loop and return in time for the reset. If any of you manage to find him, leave the loop and inform me immediately!"

We all got out of our seats and scattered, abandoning our breakfast. Bronwyn searched inside the house, looking through the rooms and lawn, with Claire and Olive searching with her. Emma and Horace left for the dock, searching the waters for him. Hugh amd Fiona went to town and asked around if anyone had seen him. And I went through the forest, if Victor had gotten himself eaten by a wolf or some other predator. I was afraid of searching on my own, partially because I was still sick, but mostly because of how harmful I might be if I was the one who stumbled upon Victor. Was I going to eat his soul? If so, how? If I really was a wight, I had no idea how to act like one anyways. As I trudged through the forest, I repeatedly heard the crunching of leaves elsewhere in the forest, sometimes nearby, sometimes far away. And then I approached something, no, someone, with what appeared to be a strong, large build. And then I heard one last crunch before it said it.

"Millard?"


End file.
